The Undercity
by Jeff Allen
Summary: my first fanfic. I've always been fascinated with the vastness of coruscant and the many levels it has and the potential for story telling it has. please give feed back!
1. chapter 1

**Chapter One**

The slow drip of the hydro pumps were beginning to find a rhythm in Omek Carrs' ears. He sat waiting in a dark corner on level 1420 of Coruscants entertainment district. Across the street and to his left he could see the Hide-Out. It's neon signs were flickering. Omek had heard of this bar before. It was known as a very shady and dangerous bar for any human to be in, especially at night. Which is why Omek was waiting across the street in a dark corner, hoping to avoid attracting any attention from any would-be muggers, thugs, or drunken bafoons looking to test their grit against a tall, thin, and vaguely tanned human.

Unless born down here, humans didn't travel to the undercity. Only if they were crazy, bounty hunters, or Jedi. Omek was neither, just a poor and desperate man. He had lived his whole life in the undercity. Only seeing actual star light once when he was but a boy. His grandmother had used up a years pay of cleaning hotel rooms and doing odd jobs to take Omek and his sister to the surface world. Sometimes he still dreamed of that Air taxi they road in. Feeling the wind whip past him and the warm light of Coruscant Prime. Omek grinned as he reminisced on looking at the star and the pain and burning in his eyes. That was a lifetime ago, it seemed.

The ping of his P-4 wrist comlink almost blended in with the ever dripping water of the many hydro pumps running through the undercity. Omek moved his wrist to his mouth and spoke, "Go ahead".

"Aye still no sign of this Zabby.. not very crowded in here either Mek, maybe you come in and have drink with me?" Omek chuckled at his twi'lek partner, Thay-Len. He was always up for a round of drinks and Pazzak.

"Well the Gamorrean bouncer doesn't look like he would be welcoming of a being such as me" replied Omek.

"Well you tell him you meet a friend here and see what happens?" Thay-Len said, half suggesting, and half pleading. He wanted company, Omek was sure of it.

"Actually old friend I think I'll continue waiting out here in this cozy little corner of mine, at least for a little while longer. Keep your head on a swivel and ding me if this Zabrak shows up... and go easy on the booze mate."

"Aye, your the boss, Mek" replied Thay-Len.

Omek could hear the tension in his friends voice. A couple of drinks would probably help him blend in and feel more at ease. Omek pulled out his rusty and archaic data pad and turned the screens brightness to the lowest setting, lest he draw any unwanted attention.

The last message he received from this Zabarak, who asked to be referred to only as "H", was supposed to meet him at the Hide-Out on Primeday at roughly 2200 hours. It was almost an hour past the meet time, thought Omek. His stomach was turning beginning to rumble with the usual feelings of hunger. A feeling that most undercity denizens were very accustomed to. Omek let out a long sigh and continued watching his surrounding and the entrance to the bar. Deciding to wait only one more hour before scrubbing this night and heading back to his current abode on level 2157.

"One more hour", whispered Omek.

 **Chapter Two**

Urah Haas kept her eyes on her feet as much as possible. Doing her best to avoid eye contact with any street dwellers or beings out and about this time of night. _Almost an hour late_ , she thought to herself. _I doubt this human even came down here to begin with._ Urah was running late due to her _better safe than sorry_ frame of mind. She was determined not to be followed. The Data disk she had stolen from her Exchange client was worth more credits than she would ever see in her life time. She could sell it to some bounty hunter and be more than comfortable for the rest of her days, and maybe enjoy some Correlian ale on the surface once a year. However, trust was a hard thing to find on this planet. A bounty hunter would just as quickly put a blaster to her head before paying her for the disk.

Her aunt told her of Omek Carr. A fellow street urchin that grew up in the undercity. Doing what needed to be done in order to survive and provide for himself and his family. From what Urah understood his family was all but dead, and her aunt assured her that he could be trusted.

Urah rounded the corner and quickly glanced up. _There it is, the Hide-Out_. Urah shuddered as she thought about what the inhabitants looked like. She decided to survey the surrounding for a few minutes before going in. _Better safe than sorry, or dead in a dark corner._ That's when she made out the faint silhouette of tall figure in a dark corner across the street from the bar. Urah felt her stomach turn to knots. _It's a set up_. _The bastard sold me out_. Urah cursed under her breath and pulled her hood up over her head, hiding the three horns protruding from her scalp. She turned and began to walk away as casually as she possibly could. She quickened her pace after turning the corner into a alley, stealing a glance over her shoulder. Cursing to her self again when her eyes fell on the tall figure from the corner. She reached into her pocket and gripped the dagger her father had left her before he passed. _Always be prepared, but never enjoy it's use_ , she told her self. Her father's words while handing it to her. Her fast walk turned into a jog and then a run. She could hear the long strides of her pursuer. She was almost at the end of the alley way, _a dead end,_ she cursed herself. She stopped at the duracrete wall and turned to face her attacker. The figure was casually walking up to her, Urah imagined a sick grin on his face. She pulled the knife out and opened her mouth to yell at him to stop, but he was on her in a flash. She jabbed the knife, he side stepped and grabbed her wrist while pushing her elbow in to turn the knife back on her. _To die by my own father's blade_ , she thought.

"H?" the figure asked.

"y-y-yes. It's me H, please Omek don't kill me!"

She heard a quiet chuckle before she felt her arm being released.

"I wasn't going to kill you, maybe rough you up really good, but only because you pulled a dagger on me." Omek stated matter of factly. "Why in the universe did you want me to meet you all the way down here and at the Hide-Out of all places? Didn't Yahna tell you I was human?"

"yes.. She did.. it was the only place I could think of that wouldn't be crowded on Primeday.. and the quicker I get rid of this disk, the better" said Urah quietly as she looked down at her boots, feeling embarrassed.

"Alright well, let's get out of here before we have compa-" but Omek was cut off by the sound of a howl followed by laughter from behind him. Turning around he saw four figures standing in the way. Alien in figure, definitely not human, the darkness hiding their features.

"Well well well, what do we have here? A human and Zabrak, on 1420? They must be lost." said one of the figures in a high pitched voice.

"Or they're just stupid", said another one. More laughter ensued.

"H, give me that dagger, now" commanded Omek.

 _No don't, it could be a trap, I'll be defenseless_ , thought Urah. She hesitated.

"Len, I need help, where are you", said Omek in to his wrist, but there was no reply. Urah heard Omek curse under his breath. "H, your knife, now" Omek said through gritted teeth.


	2. Chapter 3

**Chapter 3**

Omek looked at the small frail girl out of the corner of his eyes with his handed subtly outstretched, waiting for the dagger that she surely had in a death grip.

"Look", muttered Omek, "I'm pretty good at hand-to-hand, but we don't know what kind of weapons this scum has. I need your knife and I need you to stand back behind me. Hand it over if you want to get out of here alive"

"but but but" Haas stammered frozen with fear.

"H, NOW!", demanded Omek.

Just as the words left his mouth two of the thugs, who had managed to sneakily close the distance between Omek and Haas, lept at Omek. Omek had just enough time to duck and roll to his left, barely avoiding being pile driven in to the duracrete wall. Omek heard Haas yelp in fear.

"ARRGG!!!" one of the thugs bellowed.

"CHOBBS KNOBB! the little harpy stabbed me in the arm!" exclaimed one of the assailants, a Bith.

Omek was slightly caught off guard by Haas actually managing to protect herself, and at the sight of the Bith thug. The Bith were usually a peaceful species, however the undercity had ways of turning any species into cold, hungry, violent beings. Omek looked at the other attacker that was getting to its feet, a Rodian. Omek lifted his leg and kicked with all his strength. The Rodian flew into the Bith, knocking him over. Omek looked up at Haas as she fell to her knees and began to frantically stab the attackers in the chest. Deeming the Bith and Rodian neutralized threats he turned to face the other two thugs. He could hear them chuckling.

"Jzeepo and I'Preth, what weaklings" spat the being that Omek considered the leader, a Chiss. The other was also a Rodian, although this one was a decent amount taller than the one that lay twitching in a pool of his and his fellow attackers blood, soon to be dead if not already.

"I must say, you have put up a valiant effort to retain your lives and possessions on this quiet night. I would clap for you but it is time our little assembly concluded.", the Chiss stated in a impatiently smug tone.

Omek wasn't scared, perhaps he was worried before, when they were out numbered what he thought to be 4 to 1, but seeing H as a fairly competent defender, the odds seemed to be more in his favor now.

Omek confidently responded, "Hey nerve-burner, it's two versus two now, we made short work of these two wastoids, so how about we just go our separate ways, and not spill any more blood tonight, ehh?"

The Chiss and Rodian began to cackle and reached into the inside pockets of their jackets, each producing an aged but still capable M-41 blaster pistol.

"You were saying?" the Chiss gloated.

"son of a bantha" Omek cursed under his breath. "alright alright alright take whatever you want from us, we will set our possessions and credits on the ground and be on our way" Omek bargained.

However it seemed the Chiss wanted more than just their possessions, he wanted their lives.

"Oh that does sound tempting, but it seems you have already forgotten about the blood of my cohorts you and that stupid little girl have spilled tonight. So it seems only fair that me and my Rodian friend here spill yours as well, but rest assured the little harpy will be taken excellent care of. After we have our way with her, she will bring us an excellent profit. I can think of several Hutts who would pay a nice price for a young and beautiful Zabrak girl" The pair of them began to utter that annoying cackle once more as they raised their blasters and pointed them towards Omek. Omek looked at Haas apologetically searching for the words to soothe her, but he knew there were none. His mind began to race frantically for a way to get out of this situation alive. _The Datadisk!_

"Well you could kill me but then you would loose out on potentially a million credits..."

Their cackling slowed and eventually stopped. The Chiss was visibly skeptical as Omek assumed he would be.

"HA! Is that the best you could come up with to save your skin? Just going to throw an impossibly large number of credits out and hope I bite and decide to let you live? tsk tsk tsk.. You are going to have to do better than th-" but the Chiss couldn't finish before a large steel pipe had been brought down on the back of his head, knocking him to the ground and pistol from his hand. Omek and Haas were almost as shocked as the Rodian to see Thay-Len standing behind him with pipe in his hands.

"Kriffing Tail-head!" the Rodian snarled as he raised his blaster at Thay-Len. The pipe was still down by the Chiss, Thay-Len wouldn't have enough time to raise it and swing again with enough force to subdue the large Rodian. Omek, in a flash, reached across his body with is right hand and grabbed the dagger from Haas by the blade, performed a 360 degree turn and flung it at the Rodian, landing it in the back of his skull. All three of them watched the Rodian slump slowly to the ground.


End file.
